A deep dive into the RHS New Players’ latest emotionally charged production.
By Mary Ann Wright
This October , the RHS New Players performed The Wolves written by Sarah DeLappe. The play follows the story of nine girls at soccer practice throughout their indoor season. Each week, the girls delve into heavy topics and reveal their life struggles, which many teen girls can relate to. On the surface, the girls can be seen as representing different personality types, yet everything is not always as it seems, and their true conflicts are hidden beneath the numbers that stand on their jerseys. As the show progresses each girl’s true self comes to light revealing a person behind the number to whom the audience can relate.
As RHS student Cate Burns who played #8 shared, “The concept and dialogue of this play is highly realistic. The Wolves provides a nuanced portrayal of young womanhood and captures the challenges and triumphs of growing up as a teenage girl. One aspect of womanhood that this play explores that resonates with me is emotional resilience and vulnerability. My character, and others, all navigate their emotional landscapes, dealing with personal struggles, insecurities, and the need for emotional strength. This also ties into the complexities of female friendships and how important they are.” This show is truly an ensemble piece that can portray the importance of teamwork and bonds that can last a lifetime.
Brooke Kantrowitz, #14, also shares this thought: “The play delves into the relationships between the girls on the soccer team, highlighting how they support each other through personal and collective challenges. This aspect of the play shows the importance of camaraderie and understanding in achieving common goals, which is something I find very relatable.”
The director, Kelly Van Zile, shared her experience in directing this show: “I didn’t find anything challenging to direct. I found it all to be an amazing experience. I’m a huge believer in text that tells actors how to act the lines so it was fun for me to get everyone to really pay attention to the language and the way it was written and punctuation and stay true to that as a way to understand your character. It’s one of the only things I know of that all the female characters exist without a man. It’s brilliantly written! It’s real life and real raw.”
The Wolves is “very emotional, powerful, and relatable,” which is how cast member Fiona Powers describes the show. This is an accurate depiction of the show, as it draws the audience emotionally into each character and every situation. This show is empowering to adolescent women and shows the importance, even when conflict arises, of the need to connect and be fierce and fearless throughout the transformative teenage years. Therefore, let’s go Wolves:
We are fierce. We are fearless. We are female. We are the wolves.